Monday, December 24, 2012

Wheelchair-bound boy placed in back row of his school graduation photo

The parents of a wheelchair-bound boy are considering legal action against the NSW Department of Education and Communities in Australia over what they believe is an act of discrimination. Luke Smith, 11, who suffers no mental disability from his condition, hydrocephalus – water on the brain, was left staring at the backs of his classmates in a photo taken to celebrate the year 6 graduation at Beresfield Public School, near Newcastle. In the image only his wheelchair is visible between the legs of his mates in what should have been a lasting memento of his primary education.

A month of preparation and planning – including a rehearsal – failed to ensure Luke was placed in the front row. “I bawled my eyes out,” his distraught mother Vicky Smith, who snapped a damning photo of the situation, said. “I’m just shattered,” his father Phillip Smith said. “If he wasn’t in a wheelchair he would be in that photo.” When asked if the photo was a spur of the moment event, Mr Smith shook his head.

“No, it was all planned,” he said. “It was his year 6 farewell and that photo is something he should be able to look back on.” The DEC spokesman said it was an ­oversight. “They had rehearsed the photo and ­somehow between then and photo being taken he ended up out of place,” the spokesman said. “The students were grouped alphabetic­ally for the photo – being Smith he ended up at the back, it wasn’t discrimination. It’s all an unfortunate misunderstanding.”

Apologies from the principal and the department have failed to wash with the Smiths. The department even offered to reconvene the students for a photo and place Luke front and centre. “Luke doesn’t want to be part of it, he’s done with them,” Mrs Smith said. “If only one thing comes out of this we don’t want another child with a disability to go through this again.” The DEC backed an apology from the principal and assured the family it would not happen again. “The school is reviewing the procedures in how the photos are conducted,” the spokesman said. “The school is proud of the support it has been able to give to Luke and is very sorry.”

3 comments:

The parents were there taking photos, why did they not speak up then. Did they think they would become famous if they let the situation unfold as it did ?I would have cared more for my son and would have ensured my son was clearly visible in the photo.